Costello’s aim is equally untried and true. Some tracks are just more equal than others, and you’ll only have to wait a couple minutes for a proper pendulum equilibrium. If, for some reason, you find in the propulsive “5 Gears In Reverse” that “All of this acceleration is driving you to death,” or the rapid-fire “Beaten To The Punch” commands you to “better get out now because you’ll never go the distance,” — just wait a couple minutes and the gorgeously lilting “New Amsterdam" will crop up, or the soothing textures of the death-shuffle melancholy of “Secondary Modern” will grab you with its sinister sibilance that prefigures the insidious tone of “New Lace Sleeves” and “Watch Your Step” from Trust. As "Secondary" asserts, “Nobody makes me sad like you / Now my whole world goes from blue to blue.”
Indeed. Don’t, despite the many jolts of joy Happy sparks, expect that you’ll ever really really Get Happy here. Even in the most seemingly blithe-spirited song, there’s a catch with each catch of the throat. There's insecurity lurking everywhere, and nobody’s sending in the clowns — “Clowntime Is Over”:
Almost too good to be true
Who do you? why do you? what do you do?
While everybody’s hiding under covers
Who’s making lovers lane safe again for lovers?
Love "starts with a face and ends up a fixation,” as Costello sings in “Black And White World,” but the obsessions also see the fantasy become physical “as you feel the fingers' friction.” In “B Movie” we’re not going to get slapstick or an on-the-cheap Western or Romance…well, not any of those sticky valentine Romances with a happy ending:
B movie, that’s all you are to me
Just a soft soap story
Don’t want the woman to adore me
You cant stand it when it goes from real to reel
Too real too real
You cant stand it when I throw punch lines you can feel…
Article comments
1 - JP
Nice review, and I love this album!
2 - Vern Halen
My fave of the early Costello bunch. Running a close second, my other fave isn't even a proper album, but the compilation Taking Liberties (called something else in the UK). Both are similar in the 20 - odd song "All Different!" approach - throwing so much at the listener that in the end, the whole isi greater than the sum of the parts. The Ryko CD of Get Happy! has many of those Liberties' tunes as the bonus tracks.
Thanx for the article. Mr H. Now I'll have to go give it spin fer fun.
3 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks JP--for a long time this was my favorite EC album (still in top 3) mostly for that "sketch book" quality that showcased his restless (dare I say it?-yes) genius.
4 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks Vern--in many ways, Taking Liberties clinched the deal for me--his cast-offs and B-sides were better than most artists' best stuff. "Hoover Factory" and the great, stinging "Big Tears" especially.
5 - Vern Halen
"Restless genius?" Maybe so, but rumour was they spent a lot of time down at the pub while they were working on this(!).
6 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Yeah, maybe off-target and may becasue its 8am here and I haven't slept yet. But maybe the pub was an inspiration for "King Horse":
"He'd seen the bottom of a lot of glasses
But he'd never seen love so near"
7 - Kevin Davis
Thanks again, Gordon. This is a great series you're running here.
Get Happy!!! is my personal favorite Costello record. The Rhino re-issue has 30 (!) bonus tracks from these sessions, including a really cool early version of "New Lace Sleeves."
8 - Glen Boyd
I agree with Kevin, this is a really cool series. Lets see we've had Darkness from Bruce, Planet Waves from Dylan, and now Get Happy from Elvis. Whats next Gordon? Maybe On The Beach from Neil Young?
Get Happy isn't my favorite Elvis album. I actually felt it was a bit of a letdown after "My Aim", "This Years Model" and "Armed Forces". But it definitely has some fine moments. I'll probably have to pull this one back out and reexamine it too.
See what you make me do?
-Glen
9 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks Kevin--As I've been buying the Rhino re-issues, I've been passing along the older CDs (not the LP versions) to friends who are not for some reason Costello fanatics like me. My indoctrination as Dr. Luther's sinister Assistant continues...
10 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Glen--I'm thinking "Zuma" or "Live Rust"--one of the best live albums ever, especially the grouping of "Cortez," "Powderfinger," "Cinnamon Girl," and "Like a Hurricane."
11 - Sean
This is a great series you are running. Coincidentally, the discs for each of the albums you have spotlighted had been put in my car for drive time listening within two weeks before your write up. If your next album is Double Nickels on the Dime, I am going to think this is more than a coincidence and probably constitutes enemy action.
Get Hppy is my favorite EC album. The Rhino reissue is highly recommended both for the demos and alternate takes, but also for the live verions of some songs plus a bonus version of the Peter Tosh song 'Don't Look Back.' The bonus disc also includes a great radio commercial for the album.
12 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks Sean--well, my next album was going to be Double Nickels on the Dime...